Kozhikode: The Kerala police have arrested 14 persons in Kozhikode when they took out a protest march against the killing of communist terrorists by the special commando force, Thunder Bolt, in Palakkad.
The police arrested them on the grounds that they did not seek permission for a protest march. The protest took place at the heart of the city.
Meanwhile, the police have completed the inquest procedures of the those killed in the encounter. After the inquest the police transferred the dead bodies from the forests to the Thrissur Medical College for postmortem.
Three communist terrorists were gunned down by the special commando force of the Kerala police yesterday at Manchakkadu forest area in Palakkad. The gun fight began after terrorists opened fire at Thunder Bolt search team.
The killings have come under severe criticism from various corners, especially from the Communist Party of India (CPI), an ally of the ruling CPI(M), and other far left groups. Many accuse the police for conducting a fake encounter and denounce the killings of the terrorists.
The communist terrorists or the Maoists have frequented the forested border areas of Kerala for a long time to establish a strong hold in the region.
Around 3,700 persons have lost their lives across the country in the last nine years in the attacks by communist terrorists. Chhattisgarh is the worst affected by these attacks on the basis of the numbers killed.
Many political experts say that while communist terrorists pose a huge security threat it is deeply disturbing that there is an indirect support for them from various quarters in Kerala, especially from the CPI.
